Blood Drops: The Recount of the Life of A Vampire
by White Raven-Sarah
Summary: This is part one of the book I am currently writing. It is pretty much the biography of a vampire character I have. I hope you enjoy. I will upload the other parts when I am finished typing them.


**Blood Drops**

**The Recount of the Life of a Vampire**

A Novel

**Part One**

"You'll never catch me, Lucas!" A young German boy called back to another boy

as he rushed up a hill on the edge of a lush, dense forest.

Lucas wasn't close behind the boy. "Toren, we are leaving tomorrow. Speak

English!" He called up to him in broken English with a strong German accent.

Toren stopped at the top and waited for an exhausted Lucas to join him. "I don't

have to now. We're not in England yet." He tells Lucas in German, ignoring his warning.

"I know but Mama said we should practice as much as possible before we leave."

Lucas had given up on speaking in English and went back to German. "You should at

least humor her, Brother."

Toren sighed and spoke in English finally. "Fine, but I'm not waiting for you!"

He started running into the forest.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Lucas started running after him.

Following a barely visible trail under a cover of browning autumn leaves, they

came out to a clearing on a riverbank with a small cabin nestled next to it. It was

overlooked by an ominous castle high on a summit across the river.

"Why do you always have to cheat, Toren?" Lucas yelled, obviously running out

of breath and still not that close to Toren.

"I don't cheat, you're just too slow." Toren burst through the front door of the

cabin and was met by a very stern look on a woman's face that made him stop in his

tracks.

"Where have you two been?" She demanded as Lucas came in panting and stood

beside Toren.

"We were out in the field, Mama." Toren answered in a small voice.

"I've told you a hundred times not to wonder that far alone." She scolded them as

she closed the door. "What if one of you was attacked by a wolf, or worse, a bear?"

"Sorry, Mama." Lucas apologized.

"But I'm twelve years old! I should be able to go on my own." Toren protested,

gaining some courage.

"Next month you will be twelve. Either way, I think both of you are still too

young to be running around the forest by yourselves." She wasn't going to budge.

"What are you arguing about now?" A man walked through the door with a

sarcastic smile.

"Papa!" Lucas ran to the man and clung to his leg.

"Rolf, Toren and Lucas were out in the field alone again." Mama said with a sigh.

"Oh, Julia, this is their last day. Let them enjoy themselves." Rolf said as he

picked up Lucas.

"Fine." Julia caved with another sigh. "But they're only seven and twelve. We

can't let them do that when we get to England."

"Agreed. We might need to get a nanny or a few leashes then." Rolf suggested

with a chuckle.

"Hey! I'm not a dog!" Toren whined.

"You're loud like one. Now go finish packing your things." Julia ushered Toren

to his room with Lucas following him.

"Guess what today's date is!" Toren shouted while running around the small ship

cabin.

"December fifth. Today's your twelfth birthday." Rolf answered as he grabbed

Toren from his bed to stop him from running around like a lunatic.

"Why would we forget? You were counting down the days the entire trip for three

weeks." Lucas reminded him from a separate bed across the cabin. "And why did you

have to wake us up so early? It's not even sunrise!" He covered his head with the

blankets and tried to go back to sleep.

"I couldn't sleep I was so excited!" Toren wiggled out of his father's grasp and

jumped on Lucas' bed. "Although, I am disappointed that I'm spending my birthday on a

smelly old ship."

"Just hush and go back to sleep, Toren." Julia ordered from under her own covers,

obviously annoyed. "We'll celebrate at a more godly hour than this."

"Fine." Toren pouted and crawled back into bed with Lucas.

"Toren! Wake up! It's lunch time, you lazy head!" Lucas yelled while shaking

him. "Mama and Papa already left to get food. Hurry up and get dressed so that we can

join them!" He ran out the door and then popped his head back in again. "Well? Are you

coming?"

Toren threw one of the pillows at him. "Shut up! I'm coming!" He jumped out of

bed and quickly got dressed and ran to join Lucas.

Rolf and Julia were already sitting at the table when they reached the mess hall.

"Sorry we're late. Toren was still asleep." Lucas apologized as he sat down.

"Toren I thought you were going to sleep through your birthday." Rolf jested.

"After you two are done with your lunch, you need to go back to our cabin and pack your

things. We'll be getting close to land soon."

"Really? That's great! I won't have to spend my entire birthday on this smelly old

ship!" Toren cheered.

"Hush! Don't say that out here. It's rude." Julia snapped at Toren.

"But it is a smelly old ship. OW!" Julia struck his hand with her spoon.

"Don't argue with me, Toren." Julia ended the conversation.

Toren and Lucas were in the middle of defending their small fortress of luggage

from Rolf, who was throwing socks at them from across the cabin, when they heard

someone on deck cry land ho!

They scrambled up onto the deck and peered out to the small sliver of land on the

horizon. England.

"There's our new home, boys. We'll be living on the tip of the Thames River.

That is farther inland but not too far." Rolf told them with a smile on his face.

"At least we're closer." Toren said. "I can't wait to get back on land."

"Neither can I." Rolf agreed, beaming. "Let's go finish packing."

The ship docked shortly and the gangplank was lowered. Passengers began to

shuffle down to England's shore with armfuls of their luggage. Rolf, Julia, Toren and

Lucas lugged their bags out of their cabin and joined the back of the group stepping off

the ship. Once they got off the ship, they settled along the edge of the dock and took out a

map from Rolf's messenger bag.

"We are now on England's southern coast. We will continue North until we reach

the tip of the Thames River." Rolf explained, tracing a path with his finger on the map.

"That is where we are going to live. It is a small no-name town but it is close to

Birmingham and on a trade and travel route. But for now, we have to find transportation.

Julia? Do you have that letter from your sister?"

"No, Rolf, I gave it to you to put in your bag before we left." She pointed to his

bag as if it was obvious. "Don't tell me you forgot it."

"No, no. I probably didn't…" He mumbled, looking through his bag, pulling out

various pens, books, papers, etc. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Julia rolling

her eyes in annoyance. He heard her mumble something under her breath but he didn't

pursue it.

Across the dock, a laughing child got away from her mother and started to run all

over the dock with her mother running after her, yelling in a foreign tongue. Rolf heard

them and looked up to see the child running in his direction. He was able to dodge the

child but her mother caught him on the shoulder. Everything in Rolf's hands was

knocked out and was skewed all over the dock. Julia, Toren and Lucas already started to

gather up his things. Rolf sighed and joined them.

"Let me help you." A man walking by offered and kneeled down to help.

"Thank you." Rolf said as the man handed him a few of his things.

The man picked up one of the books and looked at it curiously. "'Of The

Structure of The Human Body'? Are you a doctor by chance?"

"Yes, I am. I'm traveling with my family northward for work. My sister-in-law

told us the town we are going to doesn't have a doctor." Rolf explained.

The man picked up a smaller book and examined it as well. "Who is William

Harvey? I don't think I've heard of him." He asked Rolf.

"Oh, he has this study on the heart on how it pumps the blood through the body

through tube-like things he calls veins and capillaries. I thought it might be useful."

"Interesting. Here." The man handed Rolf his book and the last of his things.

"Have a good day and good luck on your travels."

"Thank you again." Rolf smiled as the man walked away, then he spoke to Julia.

"I found Judith's letter."

Julia had a relieved look on her face. "Good. Now let's find her and rest on a soild

bed tonight."

"Julia! How are you? I hope you didn't have any troubles on the way here. Come

in! Come in!" Judith ushered them in, bursting with excitement. "The boys are getting so

big! Is Rolf still being a good husband? You must be starving from eating that disgusting

ship food. Little Lucas, you are so cute!" Judith gave poor Lucas a crushing hug. Toren

just snickered as he watched his brother get crushed. "And Toren, you're becoming such

a handsome young man." She released Lucas and was now after Toren. He tried to run

away but it was futile.

"Our trip was fine, Judith." Rolf assured her. "We're not too hungry."

Judith let go of Toren finally. "I'm glad. It's been so long since I've seen all of

you." She gave Rolf an equally crushing hug.

"We're glad to see you, too, Judith. Did you find someone to make transportation

arrangements?" Rolf asked her.

"Oh course, I did. Do you really think I would forget my dear little sister's

needs?" Judith said as she finally gave Julia a warm hug.

"We all need transportation." Rolf pointed out, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, who cares about your needs? Julia, I swear. You just had to marry him. At least he's a Protestant. We don't need any of those damned Catholics in our family. They're the ones who started this war, you know."

"There's nothing wrong with him, Judith. I think I couldn't have done any better."

Julia said, defending Rolf. "And you always get on me about my marriage and criticize

Rolf every time we visit you. Try to make this one pleasant." Rolf just stood there and

glared.

"Why does your sister always have to be difficult?" Rolf questioned Julia as they were getting ready for bed. "I don't see what her problem is." Rolf paused. "Do I hear running?" He opened the door slightly and stuck his head out to see Toren and Lucas running down the hall. "Toren! Lucas! What are you doing out of bed? You know ho late it is." He told them sternly.

"Auntie Judith said we could stay up." Toren argued with him.

"Is she your mother?"

"No…"

"Then get back to bed before I get over there and make you and you won't like it if I make you." Rolf warned them. They ran back to their room and closed the door. Rolf closed his door as well. "Some nerve she has. We know how to care for our children and here she is telling ours what to do when she doesn't have any of her own!" Flustered, he plopped down on the bed next to Julia.

"Oh, hush. Your family isn't any better." Julia told him.

"At least they're all in Germany." Rolf pulled the covers over himself. "At least we'll be leaving tomorrow."

The next morning started off with a clang. Judith banged a wooden spoon against one of her pots to wake everybody up for breakfast. Everybody slowly got dressed and dragged themselves to the kitchen. It was barely dawn. Lucas almost fell asleep while eating.

"Judith, so where is the place where we'll find the…uh…" Rolf muttered half asleep.

"Transportation? It is an old farm and the man who owns it is selling one of his wagons." Judith filled in quickly, some how having the same energy as yesterday.

Toren was dazed with his fork in his mouth, probably about to fall asleep. "Can I go back to bed and skip breakfast?"

"Sure Tor—" Julia started.

"Of course not!" Judith interrupted. "You eat your breakfast. You don't want to be scrawny like your father." Rolf seemed too tired to catch the insult.

Toren groaned and shoved another spoonful of eggs in his mouth. Lucas just collapsed into his plate and immediately woke up again with egg and potatoes covering his face.

"Lucas, go wash your face, hon." Julia yawned.

"How come he gets to leave?" Toren whined.

"Eat your breakfast and no more whining." Judith ordered. Lucas slowly slid out of his chair and walked to the sink to wash his face.

"After breakfast, we can go down to that farm and look at that wagon." Judith

suggested and was answered by a chorus of moans.

Rolf was inspecting the wagon but still a little groggy. Julia and Judith were talking to the farmer, trying to haggle with him. Toren and Lucas were looking at the pigs and running around the barn, terrorizing any rats that might have been hiding in the hay and straw. Julia would occasionally snap at them to not get dirty, but was rarely heard.

Rolf joined Julia and Judith and the farmer. "Do you think it could survive till Birmingham?" He asked the farmer.

"Of course. I've traveled much farther than that with that old thing." The farmer bragged.

"Good, we'll take it. I just need a strong horse. Do you have one you are willing to part with?"

"Well…" He looked behind him at his stables. "There is a pair of old mares of about seventeen and nineteen that would do perfectly fine. You can have them if you want. You need two for that wagon anyways."

"Thank you. Can you help us find someone who can provide provisions for our trip?"

They went back and forth like that for a while. The boys were standing on the fence of the pigpen taunting the hogs.

"I wonder how long it took for it to get that fat." Lucas thought out loud. They were staring at a particularly enormous hog lying in the mud.

"Don't know. Bet it would make some nice ham." Toren speculated.

"That's mean!"

"It's a pig; we are supposed to eat it."

"You're still mean!" Lucas gave him a shove which broke the plank Toren was leaning on. He fell forward and landed face first in the mud.

"Lucas!" Toren yelled at his brother. "Why did you push me in?" Toren glared at him but he didn't look too threatening with a muddy face.

"I didn't mean to, but you deserved it!" Lucas yelled back. Toren retaliated by throwing a ball o mud in Lucas' face, knocking him backwards off the fence.

"Mama!" Lucas ran to Julia for protection. Julia looked over and saw Lucas but then saw Toren covered in mud.

"Toren Peter Vignar!" Julia shouted, enraged. She stomped to him and grabbed him by the arm. "I told you not to get dirty and both of you are disgusting! What made you think acting like a filthy pig would be fun?!" She dragged Toren over to where Lucas and Rolf were standing.

"Toren threw the mud at me!" Lucas tattled.

"He pushed me in! It's not my fault!" Toren countered.

"Both of you, quiet!" Julia yelled and pinched both their necks.

Rolf looked at them with disapproval and sighed. "Take them back to Judith's and

get them cleaned up, Julia."

"AHH! It's cold!" Lucas shrieked when Julia poured water on him in the tub.

Toren was sitting outside the door, awaiting his turn.

"You should have thought of that before." Julia growled.

They heard the whinny of a horse and hooves as Rolf drove the wagon up to the house. Judith and Rolf hopped out and entered the house.

"We have the wagon and our provisions." Rolf announced. "Let's get that mud ball cleaned up," He pointed to Toren as he walked by, "and pack our things. Then we can go."

"Oh, please, Rolf. Stay a little longer. I just love seeing the boys and my dear sister. Please stay as long as you like." Judith offered as she followed Rolf.

"I've already stayed here longer than I like. Besides, we need to get going." He grabbed a few bags from his room and started packing the wagon.

"Rolf, when you come back in, can you take him outside and throw a few buckets of water on him or something?" Julia motioned to Toren as Rolf walked by with another load of luggage while she was shoving Lucas out with fresh clothes.

Rolf looked down at Toren, who looked like a chipping statue with the drying mud. "Sure. Go on and wait for me outside, Toren." He took his armful to the wagon as Toren stood and walked out back.

"Why do I have to go outside? Lucas was th— AHH!" He screamed as water rushed over his back. He swung around and saw his father giggling to himself and holding an empty bucket.

"Sorry, Toren. I thought you were a tiny filthy mud monster." Rolf chuckled.

"I'm not that tiny!" Toren yelled back.

Rolf grabbed another bucketful of water from the trough next to the house and

threw it at Toren. "You are still shorter than me and your mother. Lucas is catching up to

you. Now come back inside and get some clean clothes. Your mother says to discard

those." Rolf set the bucket on the ground and went back inside. Toren huffed and

stomped in after him.

"Rolf, how are we going to sleep on this thing?" Julia, along with everything else in the wagon, bounced with every bump and pothole in the road, bordered by trees and various vegetation. "And what if it rains? We don't have a cover for the wagon, Rolf."

"We have tarps and try your best to sleep. We won't be stopping often." Rolf was whipping the reins to try and make the old mares go faster than their snail-like pace. "We might be late if we make too many stops with these mares."

"Can I go up and—" Lucas was interrupted by another pothole, "ride on one of them?"

"Not right now, Lucas." Rolf sounded annoyed, probably because of his purchase.

"Please?"

"No."

"Ple—"

"No! That's final. You can get on one of them when we stop."

"When will that be?"

"I don't know."

"Is it soon?"

"Lucas, just shut up." Toren snapped.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"I don't know."

"Just shut up." Toren slumped back in the wagon and laid down.

Lucas directed his attention back to his father. "How long till we get there?"

"About two hundred miles." Rolf said, pulling his coat tighter around himself against the cold winter wind.

"Is that a long way?"

"It's not too long."

"Can I sit up there with you?"

"No, just sit there and be quiet and maybe this trip won't be too miserable."

Toren was busy examining a knot in the wood when the sound of a galloping horse distracted him and made him sit up and look around.

There was a horseman with a hooded cloak fast approaching from behind. The horseman abruptly yanked on his reins to slow his horse down which made it rear up. Once the hose settled, Toren was able to see under the horseman's hood. The man had short, dark hair and strangely bright green eyes that seemed to glow under the darkness of the hood. Toren was mesmerized by his peculiar eyes, then noticed his complexion; it was quite pale, as if it had not seen the light of day in years. Toren looked to see if there were any patches of skin exposed to natural light, but saw he was well equipped with riding gloves, boots and a thick coat. The only part not covered seemed to be his face. When Toren looked back up, the man was staring intensely back at him in annoyance.

"Are you done?" The man uttered under his breath, barely audible.

Toren quickly looked away and busied himself with looking at the knot in the wood again. The man saw a break in the trees along the side of the road and bolted around the wagon and was gone down the dirt road.

"Wonder why he's in such a hurry." Rolf thought out loud once he was out of sight.

"Who knows? Toren, next time someone comes up behind us, don't stare. It's rude." Julia advised.

"Sorry, Mama." Toren still had chills going don his spine from the strange cloaked man.

Within a few days, the Vignar family reached the tiny insignificant town that would be their new home. The streets were unpaved with random saplings growing in various places and the buildings weren't built in an organized fashion and were much less than average standards. It was surrounded on three sides by a dense, seemingly endless, forest, the fourth opened to the dirt road leading to the town. There was a building that looked like an inn and another seemed to be a rarely used town hall or something of the sort. The steeple of a church could be seen somewhere on the other side of town.

Rolf found a spot to stop near the inn and took a good look at the town. He jumped off and tied the reins to a sturdy sapling. "Julia, why don't you find lunch and I'll go find Dr. Thompson." He walked to the back of the wagon and helped his family down.

"Do you want to meet back here at the wagon?" Julia asked once she was out.

"Yes, that will be fine. Don't wander too far away." Rolf pulled out his letter and walked further into town.

Rolf found the address near the town square. It had the same charm as all the other buildings. He knew it was to be his new residence, unfortunately. Rolf walked up to it and met an old man leaning against the door.

"Are you Dr. Thompson?" Rolf asked the old man.

"Yes, and you must be Dr. Vignar. Good to see you made it here safe." Dr. Thompson shook Rolf's hand with a smile.

"Lovely house you have." Rolf half lied; it was better than his little cabin back in Germany.

"Your house now, my friend." Thompson handed Rolf a ring of keys to the house. "The place where I actually worked is separate from the house. Those keys are included."

"Thank you for letting me purchase your home and for being so patient for my arrival."

"Capture the heretic! Capture the heretic!" Someone yelled out of sight. A scared man ran out from behind a building across the square and ran across the square towards the forest. Three other men ran after him and tackled him to the ground.

"Please let me go! I haven't done anything wrong!" The man pleaded as he was forced to stand.

"Stop spitting out your lies!" The earlier voice shouted and a priest walked into the square. "We know very well what you are, Protestant. Accept salvation through the Holy Church or face death as a heretic."

"Who is that? Is this town Catholic?" Rolf whispered nervously to Thompson.

Thompson sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. That is Father Matthew. He is the priest for the church in this town. Don't tell me you're Protestant." Thompson whispered back.

"I am Protestant. Why didn't you mention this in the letter?"

"And risk my life? What if you were Catholic? Anyways, don't worry. I'm Protestant as well. I've been living here for twenty-five years. I've been alive all this time because I pretended to be Catholic."

"You _pretended_ to be Catholic? How?"

"Went to church, pretended to go along and care. You just need to do the same and stay low and you'll survive too."

"Why didn't you just leave?"

"Nowhere to go. But now I'm going to retire in Dublin with an old friend now that I have a replacement."

"You're just using me for an escape?"

"Sorry it turned out that way, Vignar. I wish you good luck." With a wave Thompson left Rolf alone in front of the house.

"Take him to the gallows." Father Matthew ordered the three men. They dragged him away with him screaming to be saved. Rolf made a little prayer for himself and his family.

Rolf regrouped his family and drove the wagon to the house. He informed Julia of their situation when the boys weren't paying attention.

"Rolf! Why didn't you ask him before we left Germany? Before we left our safe little town on the river? You are going to be the death of us!" Julia sobbed but whispered so the boys wouldn't hear.

"Julia, calm down." He held her with one arm and the reins with the other. "We just need to keep to ourselves and pretend to be like the rest of te town and we'll be fine." Rolf comforted her.

"Are you sure we can do this?"

"I am certain."

"Alright. I'll try. Do we need to tell the boys?"

"Of course/ They'll need to know how to live here when we pass away."

"You plan to stay here that long?"

"We have no choice, Julia. Where would we go anyways?"

Julia paused for a moment but couldn't think of anything.

"Anyways, we need to worry about moving in at the moment. If there is an opportunity to leave, we'll take it." Rolf assured her as he stopped in front of the house and jumped down.

11


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